releases: https://gianforte.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/bill-name-mountain-b-47-ridge-heads-president-s-desk
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://gianforte.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/bill-name-mountain-b-47-ridge-heads-president-s-desk | Bill to name mountain B-47 Ridge heads to presidents desk | 2020-09-21 | 2020 | 2020-09 | Republican | Senate | MT | Greg Gianforte | G000584 | gianforte.house.gov | legacy | A bill to name a ridge east of the Paradise Valley for an Air Force bomber that crashed there in 1962 is headed to the desk of President Donald Trump. The B-47 Ridge Designation Act passed the U.S. House unanimously on Monday, clearing the final hurdle between it and the president. The bill would dub a ridge off the southwest side of Emigrant Peak as B-47 Ridge and allow the placing of a memorial plaque at the crash site. It's where four Air Force pilots died in 1962 whileflying a training mission through Montana. Debris from the wreck is still scattered on the mountain. Montana's entire congressional delegation has been behind the effort to honor of the four pilots since Bryan Wells, of Emigrant, began pushing for it a few years ago. Wells, the chair of the B-47 Memorial Committee, has taken many people to the crash site. In 2016, he organized a memorial at a nearby cemetery for the families of the men who died. The three members of the delegation celebrated Monday's vote in a joint news release. Republican Rep. Greg Gianforte said the designation will honor the pilots and serve as a permanent reminder of their enormous sacrifice. Republican Sen. Steve Daines said that after years of work, we're now one step away from forever memorializing and honoring the four pilots. Democratic Sen. Jon Tester urged the president to quickly sign this legislation into law so that we honor the lives of these four servicemen for generations to come. The four pilots were Capt. Bill Faulconer, Lt. Fred Hixenbaugh, Lt. David Sutton, and Lt. Lloyd Sawyers. They were flying a routine training mission through Montana on July 23, 1962, when they crashed into the mountain. They took off from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas around 6:30 p.m., and flew through Montana, looped around Dillon and slammed into the southwestern slope of Emigrant Peak late that night at an elevation of about 8,500 feet. The crash started a small wildfire and scattered plane wreckage. Montana's congressional delegation first introduced a bill to name the ridge in 2018. It was reintroduced in 2019, and it has cruised through the necessary legislative steps since then. The Senate passed the bill in February. A House committee held a hearing on the bill in June and sent it to the floor last week. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |